Cociş: Romania ready to drive on
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
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After their 0-0 draw with France, midfielder Răzvan Cociş believes Romania still have good qualifying prospects in Group C but warns against a backlash from the Italians.
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Romania midfielder Răzvan Cociş was not surprised to see Group C rivals
Italy lose to the Netherlands – and after their own goalless draw with France he is convinced the race for the knockout stage is wide open.
Excellent side
After an energetic right-midfield shift against Les Bleus, the 25-year-old FC Lokomotiv Moskva player immediately tuned in to see the Azzurri in their opener and having faced Marco van Basten's side in qualifying, the only shock for Cociş was the margin of victory. "The Dutch are a very good team," Cociş told euro2008.com. "Everyone talks about Italy and France [for the last eight] but the Netherlands are also a big team and I think we showed against France, too, that Romania can compete with the best in the world. The only surprise for me was that the score was so emphatic and maybe that flattered the Dutch a bit, but they are an excellent side."
Cutting edge required
Victor Piţurcă's men recorded a goalless draw and a 1-0 win against the Oranje in qualifying but Cociş refuses to read too much into those results or to think about next Tuesday's third group game in Berne. First they take on Robert Donadoni's team at the Letzigrund Stadion on Friday and while another point would be satisfactory for Romania, Cociş expects his side to provide more of an attacking threat than in their curtain-raiser. "We maybe concentrated too much on not conceding a goal against France, without thinking too much about the attack," he said. "That's understandable because it was so important for us not to lose the first game. However, we will probably have to win one of our last two games to progress, so we will think more about going forward.
Wounded animal
"Italy will be hurt after losing so heavily. They are world champions so we will have to be careful. Yes, we beat the Dutch in qualifying but I don't think that counts for anything now. This is a different situation but if it comes down to the match against the Dutch we know we have played well against them before and hopefully we can get the same result again. For now, we are concentrating only on Italy and the first game has given us a lot of confidence."
